Simple and Classy
by dear-marauder
Summary: Alec watches Magnus dress for an evening out. Magnus explains why Alec doesn't need to understand fashion. Malec one-shot.


A/N: So, I've read a lot of fics lately where Magnus tries to give Alec a complete makeover, and I just don't think that's what Magnus would do. He may tease Alec about his dismal fashion sense, and try to buy him nice things, but I don't think he would turn Alec into a human Barbie doll. So, here's some Malec fluff where Alec doesn't get a makeover.

_The Mortal Instruments_ is not mine, nor are Alec and Magnus as much as I dearly love them.

* * *

Simple and Classy

Alec stared into the gaping maw of Magnus' closet. Inside, it was a riot of color and styles dating back centuries. Alec knew this because he'd fully investigated the contents of Magnus' closet once, and hadn't been sure whether to be horrified or amused that he'd found a pair of chartreuse pants that he knew, from watching filmed Shakespeare productions, dated back to the Renaissance.

"There's nothing in here that will fit me." _Or that I'd be willing to wear._ "You should have just let me go and get changed at the Institute."

"Nonsense," replied Magnus. "We were much closer to here. If you'd gone home it would have taken an extra hour, and we have reservations."

"I can't wear your clothes," Alec said again. He turned away from the closet, and went to go watch Magnus apply his makeup. The ritual fascinated him. He'd seen Izzy and Clary put on makeup before dates, but it was completely different with them. Clary used it as an accessory – minute amounts to enhance her features. It was like her bag or shoes, just a part of the outfit. Isabelle used it like a weapon. It was as much a part of her arsenal as her stele or her whip ever would be, calculatingly applied to intimidate or seduce, depending on the boy she was meeting.

Magnus used it as a mood indicator. Too much glitter and garish, mis-matched colors meant the warlock had been in a poor mood and was trying to cheer himself up. Bright colors meant he was cheerful. More subdued, earthy tones meant he was content. Dark colors meant he was upset and wallowing in it.

Tonight he was applying earthy tones. He stood in front of the mirror, completely naked except for the towel that was wrapped around his hair like a turban, brushing color around his eyes. Alec didn't quite understand why Magnus bothered. Putting on the makeup was such a _process_, and then he just had to wash it all off again before he went to bed. And it wasn't as if he needed it anyway. Magnus was – well, Alec had never hit on the right word to describe Magnus' looks. He was too masculine to be beautiful and too glittery to be handsome. Occasionally he was almost pretty, but his calculating cat-eyes made that impossible. Maybe exotic?

Magnus met Alec's gaze in the mirror. "There's a suit on the far right side of the closet. It's your size."

Alec didn't move. He just leaned against the wall and continued to watch.

"Honey, as much as I love to be admired, that stare is starting to unnerve me."

"Does it ever bother you?"

Magnus dropped one brush-thingy and picked up another. "Didn't I just say so?"

Alec's lips twitched into a smile. "No. I mean, does it ever bother you that I don't go in for all of this?" He waved his hand in a gesture that encompassed the room, Magnus' paint pots, and the probably-fashionable clothes hanging everywhere.

"Oh." Magnus studied himself for a moment, then dropped the brush and unwound the towel from his hair. "Will you get dressed if I tell you? Being late is only fashionable at parties."

Alec went back to the closet and searched until he found a black suit that looked like it was his size. He pulled it out and draped it across the bed. It didn't look much different from his suit at home, though if he knew Magnus, it had probably cost a lot more.

"There's a charcoal button-down to go with it," Magnus said as he put glops of something in his hair. Alec obediently retrieved the shirt, and had to admit he was pleased with it. He wasn't sure what the fabric was made of, but it was soft, and would probably feel nice against his skin. "No tie?"

"I probably have a black one somewhere in the closet that would match, but I didn't bother buying you one because you'd just take it off the moment we got to the restaurant anyway."

Alec smiled. It was true. He made a show of pulling the pants on, then said, "So? Does it bother you?"

Magnus shook his head, then winced as the motion messed up his hairstyle. He sighed, and went at it again. "No, it doesn't bother me, Alec."

"Why?" Alec pulled on the shirt – it _was_ soft – and buttoned all but the top two buttons. "You love fashion. I think you loved fashion before it was fashionable to love fashion."

"There never was such a time," said Magnus. "I'm sure that even when Adam and his wives were running around Eden in their first goat-skin tunics, Eve and Lilith were comparing the way the hides draped across their shoulders as they gave each other the evil eye." Apparently satisfied with his hair – though Alec couldn't see any difference between this style and the one Magnus had abandoned – he sprayed it with some sort of fixative and then walked over to the closet. He pulled out four different suits – beige, pinstriped, pastel blue, and forest green – and tossed them across the bed. Alec stepped out of his way as he went back and retrieved a pile of shirts then tossed those on the bed too.

He spoke without looking at Alec, as he studied the pile of fabrics. "I can see by your face that you're absolutely bewildered by my actions right now. That's fine. I don't expect you to understand them. This is just who I am. I'm chaos and colors and wild experimentation." He looked up and raised his eyebrows suggestively at Alec who laughed. "You see, I understand how throwing a pile of shirts on top of a few suits will result in the perfect combination." He leaned forward and plucked up the beige suit with one hand, and a light pink shirt with the other. "You don't understand – may even disagree with me, as I can see by the skeptical look on your face. I assure you, I wear pink better than anyone else in New York." As if to prove it, he pulled the shirt on and began to button it. "But you don't mind. You may think I'm silly – crazy even – but it's who I am, so you just let me go ahead and do my thing and then try to appreciate the results." He pulled on the pants next, then crossed to the closet and began to spin the tie rack around, looking for something that matched. After a couple of revolutions, he found something patterned in pink and tan and tied it around his neck as he turned to face Alec.

"This isn't you." He pointed to Alec and his plain black and gray ensemble. "That is you. Traditional. Simple. Classy. And classy is always sexy." Alec grinned, and then slung his jacket over his shoulder, exaggeratingly mimicking the models he'd seen in Magnus' Armani catalogs, which made Magnus laugh. "I love it when you're a smart-ass." He crossed the room and kissed Alec. "The point is, I fell in love with a simple but classy guy. You were perfect. Why would I want to try and change that?"

Alec was stunned. It wasn't as if it were the first time Magnus had ever paid him a compliment, but the warlock wasn't usually this serious or straight-forward when paying them. "You think I'm perfect?"

"Well…not completely perfect." Magnus stepped away and went to retrieve his jacket from the bed. "You don't have a proper appreciation for mid-twentieth century entertainment, but nobody seems to these days."

"I'm being serious here."

"So am I. _I Dream of Jeanie _is highly underrated." Now fully dressed, he conjured a pink rosebud to pin to his jacket lapel. "If I needed you to embrace my fashionista ways in order to be happy, I wouldn't be in love with you, but rather my idea of who you should be. But I prefer you as-is, so I buy you black suits that are going to last for the next five years, because I know it'll be at least that long before I can convince you that you need a new one.

"Now, can we go? I'm hungry." Magnus held out his hand, and Alec stepped forward to take it. "By the way, happy first anniversary."


End file.
